By the time the two of them reached Dragon Glory Hall...
The floor was already a complete mess. The emperor sat silently in the farthest corner, not daring to lift his head.
In front of him, the Empress Dowager pointed at him, her mouth moving without pause.
Where was the Empress?
Xia Wanwan glanced around and spotted the Empress sitting behind a screen just one partition away from the emperor, her eyes red. Xia Siheng and Liu Wan kept her company in silence.
Xia Qianlin's nose stung. Holding his little sister Wanwan's hand, he walked over to the Empress and rested his own hand on her knee. "Mother."
The Empress drew him into her arms and forced a smile. "I'm all right."
Then mother and son turned their gazes back to the emperor, who sat in the corner with his head lowered, being lectured.
Xia Wanwan put her thumb in her mouth and looked at Liu Wan, her face full of confusion. "What happened?"
Liu Wan picked her up and rubbed her little head. "Shh. I'll tell you later."
They all watched the emperor being scolded.
The Empress Dowager's anger boiled over. With both hands on her hips, she snapped, "You could have repaid her past kindness with money. If you truly pitied her for having nowhere to settle down and make a living, giving her a couple of shops would have been enough to feed her for the rest of her life. Did you have to bring her into the palace?"
"Mother, that was what I did at first. But she was out there raising her son alone. That widow and her fatherless child had no one to protect them, and she was nearly violated."
"If she were plain, it might have been different, but she happens to be